Social Media Listening and Evaluating the Impacts of a Regional Mass Media Intervention Targeting Young People

Digital media, and in particular social media, can be used to raise awareness about family planning (FP) among young people, as well as to promote specific demand-creation events and for advocacy. Breakthrough RESEARCH has examined evidence on the impact of mass media and digital media on young people’s FP attitudes and behaviors.

Breakthrough RESEARCH is also working with our resource partner, M&C Saatchi, to apply social listening and social monitoring to inform social and behavior change (SBC) programs throughout Francophone West Africa. Social listening and social media monitoring involve tracking the number of mentions and conversation content related to a topic, program, or brand on social media. For SBC projects, social listening can be in important tool to understand user beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. We have used these methods for monitoring the USAID-supported activities Merci Mon Héros (MMH) and Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced (RISE) II. These activities will inform adaptive management of MMH, as well as future related programs.

Related products

Literature review: “Family Planning and Youth in West Africa: Mass media, digital media, and social and behavior change communications strategies” documenting the gaps, key lessons learned, and pose possible research and programs to address the gaps?

Social listening and social media monitoring:

Global Webinar: Informing SBC Programs Using Social Media Monitoring & Listening with participants from Breakthrough ACTION and M&C Saatchi
[English: Slides│ Webinar │ Q&A synthesis
French: Slides │ Webinar │ Q&A synthesis]

GDHN Webinar: Merci Mon Héros, Utilizing Digital to Champion Empathy for Youth, and Monitor Results

Programmatic research brief: “Informing SBC programs using social listening and social monitoring” looks at the increasing number of people worldwide who express themselves on social media and how SBC programs can use this information to inform their activities.

Technical Report: “Findings From the Merci Mon Héros Social Listening Endline Report” applies social listening to understand the potential impact of the MMH campaign on the broader topic-relevant conversation online in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Niger. This report focuses on menstruation & puberty, and investigates how, if at all, that conversation has shifted during the endline period.

Programmatic research brief: Understanding the Costs of SBC Social Media Interventions, Social and Behavior Change Costing Community of Practice Series Brief #2, identifies key considerations for costing SBC via social media, given the unique nature of social media platforms, and provides an applied example from the Merci Mon Héros project.

Blog post: “Can Social Listening and Social Media Monitoring Benefit Your SBC Activities?”